October
30, 2003

Carl
Bush

Trotwood
sergeant selected as next Village police chief

Carl Bush, a sergeant with the Trotwood Police Department
who has worked in law enforcement for 26 years, has been selected as the
next Yellow Springs police chief, Village Manager Rob Hillard said on
Monday.

Hillard called the selection of Bush preliminary and
said he and Bush are currently negotiating a contract. Hillard said he
notified Bush of the decision late last week. The manager said that he
hopes to get a contract signed soon and have Bush starting his new post
in early December.

If a contract is successfully negotiated, Bush would
replace Jim Miller, who, after running the Yellow Springs Police Department
for 10 years, was placed on paid administrative leave in March and officially
retired in September. In the spring, Miller said that he decided to retire
because of a difference of opinion between him and Hillard about the management
of the Police Department.

Captain John Grote has been serving as interim chief
since March. Grote did not apply for the chief’s position.

Bush was selected from an initial pool of 81 applicants,
of whom none was from Yellow Springs. Hillard and the Police Chief Search
Committee narrowed the list of candidates down to five, who were then
interviewed by Hillard and the search committee. Bush and Jeff Witte,
a patrol supervisor with the Cincinnati suburb of Springdale, were selected
as finalists for the job and participated in a community forum last month.

Hillard described the search process as “very thorough.”
“I’ve been really pleased with our process,” he said.

Bush has spent most of his 26 years in law enforcement
with the Trotwood Police Department. Since 2000 he has been responsible
for accreditation, records management and investigating serious internal
complaints in Trotwood. He also served as a detective sergeant and was
responsible for managing homicide investigations and implementing a computerized
case management system. Previously, he spent 17 years as a patrol officer
and patrol sergeant at Trotwood.

He also has teaching experience, serving as a police
academy instructor at the Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Clayton
for the last four years and at Sinclair Community College from 2000 to
2002.

Bush is currently working on a B.S. in criminal justice
administration from Park University in Parkville, Mo. He has also completed
law enforcement courses from Sinclair, Northwestern University, the Law
Enforcement Foundation in Columbus and the Ohio Peace Officer Training
Academy in London, Ohio.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Bush said that he’s
“done just about every aspect” of policing during his career,
which he called “a plus, especially in a smaller agency.”

He said that he applied for the chief’s position
here because he likes working in a smaller community, which, he said,
“gives you more chances to contact and affect people.”

When he applied for the job, Bush said, he thought that
Yellow Springs would be “an interesting place to work.” That
hunch appears to have proved true for the 45-year-old. He said that the
more time he has spent in Yellow Springs during the search process the
more comfortable he’s felt, like this village could be home. He
attributed that feeling to the people he’s encountered, villagers’
involvement in the community and Yellow Springs’ diversity.

In a letter he sent to Hillard about the opening, Bush
said that Yellow Springs is “an ideal setting for my career goals
as well as for my family.”

Bush said that he first wants to learn more about the
police department’s operations and the community before he makes
any decisions and plans for the department.

Bush, who currently lives in Clayton, said that he wants
to live in Yellow Springs, but that will depend on what’s available
on the housing market. If he cannot purchase a home here, he said that
he will buy one close by.

The Village does not have a policy requiring the police
chief to live in town, though Hillard said that Bush must live closer
to town than he currently does.

Hillard said that out of all the candidates who applied
for the chief’s position, Bush “best emulates the characteristics
and qualities that were developed through our process.”

Hillard singled out Bush’s experience working with
a diverse workforce in a diverse community. “With his familiarity
in that environment I think he’s an excellent candidate for the
position,” Hillard said. The manager said that Bush’s background
would help him understand why respect for diversity is an “important
value” in Yellow Springs.

In addition, Hillard said that Bush not only has “vast
experience” with administrative duties, including developing policies
and procedures, but he is also willing to perform nonadministrative duties
such as road patrol and investigating.